http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/phantom_opera.html

"Ouch"

I have the ST, and aside from Gerard Butler sounding rather flat, it is pretty good.

It seems that Michael Crawford's superb vocal ability spoiled everyone and hearing someone else attempt it always disappoints. (The production of "Phantom" I saw didn't have such a great phantom either. )

Interesting. My theater has not run any ads for its start this Wednesday, yet I already have my ticket that I bought there in advance.
Apparently the Fandango site has yet to get the updates telling it that my theater will have it. It's a shame they aren't putting word out for its first night, as I think my area is the kind in which the movie will most likely do most of its business the first night with the "die hard" musical and phantom fans.

I thought this adaptation from the stage to the cinema for "The Phantom of the Opera" was a little on the long side, clocking in around 140 minutes, I did think the 3rd act was pretty good, but the middle act just sort of sags with an unfocused narrative pushing the story along.

I disliked Gerard Butler's singing voice as the Phantom, and with the mask on, he reminded me of John Travolta. I also wanted more operatic singing from the Phantom, but Butler's gravelly rock voice wasn't as pleasing to the ear as the rest of the cast. If that was Emmy Rossum's voice, then I'm pretty impressed, very nice, pure voice, pleasing to the ears. Usually I can't stand Minnie Driver, but her hammy/diva-like Carlotta was pretty funny. Patrick Wilson's singing voice was adequate, nothing outstanding, though.

So, good opening act, slow 2nd act, but the 3rd act is pretty involving.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

Ok .... let's start by pointing out that I have always appreciated the stage production of Phantom which I have seen several times in both London and NYC with several lead performers including the original cast. Also, I probably have a better opinion of Schumacher that many others who seem to bash him at every opportunity.

However .... this movie is a major disappointment, and commits the worst sin possible: it spends too much time BORING the audience. It is mostly miscast. The score, which I love, is almost never served well. It suffers from major directorial decisions that seem to work against the material.
Also, the editing hurts, rather than helps, the material. Example: during Christine's churchyard solo, the edits are just slightly off the beat of the music, so rather than adding a theatrical boost to the song, it just makes it a bit uncomforatble. And during the climactic Phantom-Christine duet, when a sense of intensity should be building, the camera constantly cuts away to the dancers - completely undermining the musical and dramatic intention of the scene.

So disappointing ....

Saw it.

I agree with Patman for the most part. It was definitely entertaining, but nowhere near what one should consider Best Picture material. Having seen the musical on stage and listened to the cast recording many times, I feel that they had too much dialogue where there should have been music, and music where there should have been dialogue. That kind of got on my nerves, as they would speak for several minutes, then sing for a line, then go back to talking. Also, this movie had some major editing problems, as the music being played didn't really seem to match what should be happening on screen. Perhaps the worst aspect is that the final song of the phantom's comes off as anti-climactic.
Butler's singing didn't annoy me as much as it did when I first heard him; he kind of grows on you. Wilson was adequate. Emmy Rossum? Dang, I hope that was her voice, as she deserves to be a star. I hope the fact that the movie is mostly lackluster doesn't hurt her chances, as she practically carries the movie. Kudos to Minnie Driver for making Carlotta such an amusing character. Even though she didn't sing the lines, she was obviously having fun doing the pantomime and hamming it up to the max.
I also give it ***/**** or a grade of B-. Schumacher definitely lucked out by getting such a good cinematographer behind the camera, as that is almost 70% of the movie's strength.

Emmy Rossum is an opera singer (checked out her IMDB entry), so she did her singing, but there were plenty of spots were the lip-sync was a little off, but forgiveable considering the scenes when they occurred.

It is indeed Emmy Rossum's voice you hear when Christine sings. Ms. Rossum is a very accomplished singer who has performed at Radio City Music Hall among other venues. I think we can expect additional great things from her in the future. I agree with other reviewers that the film treats her like a old-fashioned starlet, and I believe this treatment is consistent with the theme and appearance of the movie in general.

Having had time to reflect, I have to pose the question: why does Warner Bros. continue to trust Joel Schumacher?
While I found Phantom to be competent, he still made a lot of sloppy mistakes, and for others probably ruined something that was cherished, which he has done before as comic fans can tell you! He seems to always focus his attention on the sets and costumes, and never on characters.

I look at the film this way.

Some really, really beautiful, ornate icing an a really big, but terribly bland, chocolate cake with some burnt bits and bad almonds...

... but some of us really like chocolate cake, even though we've tasted it better, y'know?


I just sat back and drank in the spectacle. Butler's voice isn't nearly as operatic, but I like what it did; more "actorly" - instead of singing about being angry, he was singing angrily. Granted, that's due to his average voice, but they played to his strengths.

All in all, lots of flaws... just like the cracks in a beautiful oil painting.

I thought it was entertaining. I like the stage play, though am not a huge fan. It is definately carried by Rossum, though, and it felt a little long even though there is a little bit of stuff cut out (and more added).

I enjoyed the movie, but something was missing. It reminded me of The Aviator in that respect. I thought Rossum was great and was pleasantly surprised with Minnie Driver's performance. The other perfomances did their part, although Raoul was the weakest in my opinion. He seemed a little flat to me. A good movie, just lacked something I cant quite put my finger on.

Ebert's 3-star review here. I may go see this over the weekend.

Think I'll pass. It takes a lot to get me to see a musical. So seeing a musical that isn't very good isn't very likely to happen.

I had a hard time getting some of the songs out of my head for a couple of days after seeing it.

I feel your pain. Im still singing the damn things.

Lloyd Weber handpicked Schumacher to direct the film (apparently he was a big fan of The Lost Boys..seriously) The film is only being distributed by WB, but they didn't finance the flick, Weber did.

Just saw the film and loved it. Saw this performed in Toronto a few years past, and after watching this I appreciate the stage adaptation even more. How they can convey this story on stage is remarkable.

For the singing, Emmy Rossum is an absolute delight. Gerard Butler was a bit wrong at times, but I liked his performance overall. Patrick Wilson was just wrong all the time, and added nothing to the role IMOP.

I am a bit bias being I love the story and ALW's version, but this is easily in my top ten and possibly top 5. I'll have to reassess that at the end of the year. Overall grade of A- for me. Would have been an A with stronger singing and down to a B without Rossum. Also loved the added story that the film had included.

I am a huge musical theatre buff, and it's always exciting to see new musical movies being made...but I was incredibly disappointed by this film. I almost felt embarrassed (for both myself and those involved) while watching it. Joel Schumacher obviously has no idea how to direct a musical (or a movie, for that matter). Every time someone began to sing, they lost all ability to move, the camera would pan to some random gargoyle or set piece, and shadows would be cast across the room, obstructing our view of their faces. The lipsynching was awful and the singing was almost worse (though Emmy Rossum has a lovely voice, she could never be a competent lead in a professional opera). Even Broadway's golden boy Patrick Wilson was nothing but bland and boring...and I'm one of his biggest fans.

I'll admit that I enjoyed Minnie Driver's performance, and Gerard Butler had a few impressive moments of passion and charisma...and heck, the costumes and sets were pretty nice too. The was particularly well done and was also placed nicely by Schumacher. But the random Moulin Rouge dancers in "Past the Point of No Return"? The horse that Christine rides for five seconds down a flight of stairs? The god-awful choreography (especially in "Masquerade")? The spoken lyrics? Emmy Rossum's single expression of fear/surprise/adoration? The cheesy poses during "All I Ask of You"? Showing us the same five gravestones and gargoyles over and over again in the completely uninteresting "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"? The lack of -any- solid blocking or direction? I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of the source material (or ALW) to begin with, but I was so ready to enjoy this. Schumacher did absolutely nothing to make this more interesting or enjoyable. I'll rent this once it's on DVD, and I hope that my feelings might change, but I have a hunch that my unusually strong opinion will hold.

amazing. extremly well done. either a movie you love or hate, depending on how much you love theatrical, lovey dovey romance. sure its cheesy and ridiculous and mushy but thats all andrew lloyd weber. but this is a fine, fine film, as good as an adapation of the stage musical could have been. i loved this a lot mroe than the stage version. i guess i just connect with film more than theater. the look of the entire thing was amazing. some of the best set design and costumes i have ever seen. and the music was great of course.

emmy rossum will be a huge star. only part i didn't like was when she was singing in the graveyard. her cleavage was too distracting. and to think she was only 16 at the time...

joel schumacher has more than fucking made up for that batman movie he did.

easily one of the best musicals i've ever seen.

You should see more musicals.

Um....yeah, noticed that too.

I'm not a fan of musicals much and I had never seen the stage version, so I went in pretty clean. But I really liked the flick, it had its awkward spots, it had its slow spots, but its general charm, lushness, and likability of Rossum make up for it.

I don't think this is a film I'll recommend to everyone I know, but I really liked it and will probably catch it again in the future.

I think one of my problems with the film is that it does a lot of the same things as the stage version ... the boat, moat, portcullis, etc. That looks really neat on the stage because it is so elaborate, but in a movie, it is nothing new.

Saw it and loved it as well. Only problem I had was with the dubbing which was a little distracting. Other than that, thumbs up all around. Emmy Rossum is enchanting.

I agree (it almost seems unanimous from people who both like and hate the film) that Emmy Rossum is enchanting. I cannot agree that it is a great musical for the screen, then again, I am very hard to sell on musicals going from stage to screen. The only musicals I have ever truly liked as movies and not just visual treats of cinematography (something all musicals seem to have as a strength) with music playing are Moulin Rouge, Chicago, and Little Shop of Horrors.
This movie seems to be catching on well with girls though, and I can only hope it doesn't wind up being something you have to view time and again when you're in their presence (like Grease, which I find worlds worse than Phantom ).